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BILLINGS, Mont. – Western Oregon University head coach Pam Knox thought she might have an answer for how to stop, or at least slow down, the Montana State University Billings softball team.
 
The Wolves (5-16, 3-11 GNAC) intentionally walked slugger Meg Harasymvzuk seven times on Sunday to keep her bat on her shoulder. However, that just gave the rest of the Yellowjackets (20-5, 17-3 GNAC) the opportunity to step up and show their strength and depth as MSUB recorded another pair of wins, 7-1 and 12-5, over WOU Sunday afternoon to complete their second weekend-sweep of the season and pad their lead in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.
 
“It was another interesting day for Yellowjacket Softball,” head coach Lisa Allen said shortly following the doubleheader. “The girls came out strong early in the first game and Jessyka MacDonald did a wonderful job for us in the circle with the defense playing great behind her.
 
“The second game started out rough for our defense again today, but our offense came alive in the third inning to support (Amanda) Todd through the rest of the game,” said Allen.
 
MSUB relinquished the lone run of the first game in the opening inning, but that was before freshman hurler Jessyka MacDonald and the bats heated up.
 
Harasymczuk ripped her 13^th home run of the season in the first inning to score Rose Harrington and give MSUB the lead for good. But it would be the last time the senior from Spring Creek, Nev. would take the bat off her right shoulder until the final inning of the second game.
 
Harasymczuk, who leads the conference in several categories including home runs, had 14 homers last season and is currently on pace to eclipse that mark as she is currently slugging .963 through the first 25 games of the year.
 
With the Wolves attempting to neutralize MSUB's biggest threat, the rest of the Yellowjackets stepped up to continue to produce at the level they are used to, and that included freshman Brittney Soares knocking her first home run of the season. Soares' big rip came in the bottom of the third inning and also scored third baseman Taylor Hoke.
 
MacDonald pitched the complete game for MSUB to improve to 3-2 for the season. The Billings West High School product gave up just five hits to Western Oregon and came within one strikeout from matching the program's record for strikeouts in a single game. The mark of 15 was set in 2005 by hall of famer Joey Ehnes and matched again by her later that season.
 
Brittany Reeves suffered her third loss of the year in the circle for WOU.
 
The second game looked very similar to Saturday's second game with the Wolves leaping out to an early 5-0 lead through the first two innings, but this time, the game would not come down to the final inning.
 
With their biggest bat still not able to be used, the 'Jackets had to once again turn to their depth to chip away at the lead and before long, MSUB and their fans were resting a little easier following two big innings.
 
Still down 5-1 after Harrington doubled to left-centerfield to score Soares in the third inning, MSUB put up another five runs in the fourth inning to take the lead.
 
The Yellowjackets never looked back as they began to hit everything that came their way, posting another six insurance runs in the following inning to come just one shy of run-ruling the Wolves.
 
Despite her rocky start, Amanda Todd remained in the game for all seven innings and struck out seven batters to improve to 4-1 for the year. Hannah Pomeroy suffered her fourth loss of the year, falling to 2-4 after going the first four innings of the game.
 
“Overall, this was a great weekend for our team and we are very excited to be going to California next week to play some out-of-conference games against some strong region teams,” stated Allen.
 
The Yellowjackets, now riding an 11-game winning streak, finished their eight-game home-stand with a perfect 8-0 record. They will now head to Turlock, Calif. for the Tournament of Champions where they will look to improve their West Region standing with five non-conference games in two days.
 
MSUB will open their time in the tourney with a 10 a.m. match-up against Chaminade University on Friday, March 30 before meeting Cal State – San Bernardino for the second time this season with a 12:15 p.m. bout.